working from home uk 2021

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How to claim the working from home tax relief.

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Updated October 19, 2023

In this guide

Important information

Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to future change.

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

• The performance of most cryptoassets can be highly volatile, with their value dropping as quickly as it can rise. You should be prepared to lose all the money you invest in cryptoassets.
• The cryptoasset market is generally unregulated. There is a risk of losing money or any cryptoassets you purchase due to risks such as cyber-attacks, financial crime and firm failure.
• The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) doesn’t protect this type of investment because it’s not a ‘specified investment’ under the UK regulatory regime – in other words, this type of investment isn’t recognised as the sort of investment that the FSCS can protect. Learn more by using the FSCS investment protection checker  here .
• Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here .
• There is no guarantee that investments in cryptoassets can be easily sold at any given time. The ability to sell a cryptoasset depends on various factors, including the supply and demand in the market at that time.
• Operational failings such as technology outages, cyber-attacks and comingling of funds could cause unwanted delay and you may be unable to sell your cryptoassets at the time you want.
• Investments in cryptoassets can be complex, making it difficult to understand the risks associated with the investment.
• You should do your own research before investing. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Putting all your money into a single type of investment is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
• A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments .

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website  here

For further information about cryptoassets, visit the FCA’s website  here

Were you told by your employer to work from home during the pandemic? If so you can apply for tax relief up to £140 per tax year .

Some workers will be able to claim for this 2022/23 tax year too, giving them up to £420 in tax relief . The money is to cover extra costs such as higher heating and broadband bills. Don’t worry if you have yet to claim as the HMRC deadline is a couple of years away.

In the article, we explain:

• How does WFH tax relief work?
• How to claim WFH tax relief
• When is the deadline to apply for the relief?
• Can you make a claim for the 2022/23 tax year?
• Who is eligible and how do you check?
• How much will you get in WFH tax relief?

Read more: Highest-paying jobs in the UK

What is WFH tax relief?

As a result of the pandemic, millions of people were told to work from home by their employers over the past couple of years.

While commuting costs will have fallen, other bills such as your gas, electricity and internet are likely to have increased as a result of you spending more time at home.

To help cover these extra costs, HMRC allows you to claim tax relief. You can do so using a designated online portal .

Around three million people made a claim for the entire 2020/21 tax year.

How to claim working from home tax relief

To claim for the working from home tax relief:

• Head to the government’s microservice portal and answer the eligibility questions
• During this process you also be asked about other work-related expenses that you could claim for too
• your national insurance number
• a recent payslip or P60 or a valid UK passport
• Once logged in, state the date that you started working from home
• If you have been working since the start of the first lockdown (23 March 2020 ) put that date in and you will get a rebate for two whole tax years (6 April 2020 to 5 April 2021 and 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022) and the two weeks extra
• If you have already claimed for 2020/21 tax year, you will not automatically receive a refund for the 2021/22 tax year. You must again use the microservice portal to apply.

NOTE: If you do self-assessment, you won’t be able to use HMRC’s online portal; instead apply for the tax relief in your tax return . 

How is the tax relief paid?

You can backdate a claim to cover the first tax year of the pandemic (2020/21) and the two weeks before as well as the second year (2021/22), if you have been working at home since the first lockdown was announced on 23 March 2020.

Where an employee meets the criteria to claim tax relief for working from home and makes a claim for previous years, HMRC will issue a tax refund.  This is usually in the form of a cheque.

If you are claiming for the current tax year then you will pay less tax when you are paid. This means your tax code will change.

How much tax relief will I get?

There are two options to getting the tax relief:

• Your employer: can cover your expenses and pay them into your wages tax-free
• You claim: given the difficult time that many businesses have faced, you are more likely to claim tax relief from HMRC instead of your employer covering the costs

NOTE: You can’t do both. You will be unable to claim tax relief if your employer is paying your expenses.

If you do claim yourself, how much you will get depends on the rate of income tax you pay:

• Basic-rate taxpayers get £1.20 a week (tax relief of 20% on £6) = £62.40 per tax year
• Higher-rate taxpayers receive £2.40 a week (tax relief of 40% on £6) = £124.80 per tax year
• Top-rate taxpayers will receive £2.70 a week (tax relief of 45% on £6) = £140.40 per tax year

If you didn’t claim for last tax year or the one before but worked from home, you can backdate your claim. This means you would get up to two full years’ payment as a lump sum in your next salary.

If you are eligible to claim for the current tax year too, that’s three years of tax rebates, meaning:

• Basic-rate taxpayers could receive as much as £187.20
• Higher-rate taxpayers could get up to £374.40
• Top-rate taxpayers could receive up to £421.20

HMRC will accept backdated claims for up to four years.

Working-from-home tax relief is an individual benefit, so a couple or a group of flatmates can all claim it if you are all working from home.

You can use our income tax calculator to work out your payments.

What is the deadline to apply for WFH tax relief?

If you worked from home during the 2020/21 and 2021/22 tax years but failed to apply for the rebate, you can still do so. HMRC says it has no plans to close the online portal or microsite.

Claims can be backdated, meaning that you may be eligible for up to £280 tax relief if you claim for both last tax year and the one before (essentially the two years during the pandemic). Few workers will be able to claim for the current tax year.

HMRC confirmed that you have until the 5 April 2025 to make claims for 2020/21 tax year, and until 5 April 2026 make claims for 2021/22.

Can I still claim for working from home tax relief in 2022/23 tax year?

Some workers will be able to claim for the current tax year. But many people won’t be eligible for this tax year as it is no longer a legal requirement to work from home.

You can claim if you have additional household costs as a result of working from home and your employer has not already paid these extra expenses.

In order to claim for this tax year, which started on 6 April 2022, one of the following must apply:

• You can’t perform your job on your employer’s premises because they don’t have the facilities; for example, your employer has a small office with no space for you to work there
• Your job requires you to live so far from your employer’s premises that it would be unreasonable for you to travel there every day; for example, the workplace is in Birmingham but your job requires you to work in Scotland
• Or government restrictions mean you must work from home; though these restrictions have now been removed so can no longer be applied for this tax year

To claim tax relief, you cannot have just chosen to work from home.

HMRC also warned that employers who simply tell employees to work from home may not be sufficient to claim tax relief. So if you are hybrid working (that is, working from home for part of the week), you can only claim tax relief if there is a lack of appropriate facilities on your employer’s premises to do your job.

The government has outlined several examples where staff can claim working from home tax relief.

If you do meet the criteria for this tax year you could be entitled to as much as £420 in pandemic-related tax relief when you include the past two tax years.

Does my tax code change if I work from home?

Yes, if you are in receipt of the work-from-home tax rebate then your tax code will change.

You can usually find your tax code on your pay slip. The most common tax code for the 2022/23 tax year is 1275L. The number represents the personal tax allowance for most earners in the UK, which is £12,750 – this is the amount you can earn in a year tax-free.

So if you’re in receipt of the tax rebate, this code will change to reflect the fact that you have a larger personal tax allowance. Although bear in mind that this number could be different for other reasons, such as if you’re receiving a different tax benefit like a company car.

If you have claimed the working from home tax benefit in the past and you’re no longer eligible, you should check your PAYE tax code to ensure you’re not still receiving it.

It’s important to check because if you continue to claim while no longer eligible, you will be forced to pay additional tax at the end of the tax year.

If you are receiving the working from home tax rebate when you shouldn’t, get in touch with HMRC to get your tax code changed.

Who is eligible for tax relief for the last two tax years?

Not everyone is eligible to claim for the last two tax years so you need to check first that you:

• Were told to work from home by your employer. You cannot claim tax relief if you chose to work from home
• Have had to pay higher costs related to working from home (but you don’t need to show evidence of this)
• Must not be receiving expenses directly from your employer to cover the extra costs of working from home

Do you pay tax by self-assessment? You can still claim the tax rebate but you need to apply for it in your tax return rather than through HMRC’s online portal.

If you are still unsure whether you are eligible, there is a government tool that can help you find out.

NOTE: If you are self-employed, you can’t claim because you work for yourself. However, you can claim expenses on your tax return.

If you are new to tax returns, check out our guide to self-assessment .

What if the rebate doesn’t cover my extra needs?

If the sum provided does not come close to the extra costs that you have incurred, you can apply for relief on higher sums.

There are two options:

• If you complete a self-assessment form each year simply add the claim to that
• Fill in the P87 form that allows workers to claim back expenses up to a maximum of £2,500

HMRC says that additional costs include things such as:

• Metered water bills
• Home contents insurance
• Business calls
• New broadband connection

They do not include costs that would stay the same whether you were working at home or in an office, such as rent, council tax, or your chocolate digestive habit.

You will need:

• Your employer’s name and PAYE reference (which you can find on your payslip or P60)
• Your job title
• Receipts (to provide evidence of these extra costs)

You won’t get back the full cost of the extra expenses, only tax relief on the total. For example: if you have spent £500 on extra costs, as a basic-rate taxpayer, you will see your net wages increase by 20% or £100.

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How has working from home impacted productivity? This UK survey has answers

Over half of people in the UK are working from home. Image:  Unsplash/lukasbieri

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Stay up to date:.

• A new survey looks at attitudes towards home working in the United Kingdom.
• The majority of those survey would like to continue to work remotely for at least some of the week.
• This will present challenges for employees and employers alike.

One potentially long-term consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is the new normal of working from home (WFH) – and its effects are not the same across all workplaces (Adam-Prassl et al. 2020). Using a new online survey, we collect data from a randomly selected sample of 5,000 UK working adults within four age brackets of 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-65, during January and February 2021. All participants had earnings more than £10,000 per year, to screen out part-time workers.

Figure 1 shows that 52% of respondents are currently WFH. Only 31% of the respondents were working on business premises, while 17% of respondents were not working. Thus, a larger proportion of people are WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those working on business premises, and as others have discovered WFH has buffered the impact of COVID-19 (Adam-Prassl et al. 2020).

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This is a slightly higher figure than data from the Decision Maker Panel, which indicated about 41% WFH in this period. Partly this reflects the impact of the second lockdown and partly we may be sampling more workers from occupations with a higher share of tasks that can be done from home (Bartik et al. 2020, Dingel and Neiman 2020).

Figure 1 How often do you work from home (February 2021)?

Notes: Data are from two surveys of 4,809 UK residents, that Prolific carried out in January and February 2021 on behalf of the University of Nottingham and Stanford University. We reweighted the sample of respondents to match the Labour Force Survey figures by age, gender, and education.

Furthermore, we asked the respondents the following question “After COVID, in 2022 and later, how often would you like to have paid workdays at home?”. Figure 2 shows the percentage of respondents that would prefer to have paid workdays while working remotely after the pandemic. From the figure, approximately 20% would like to work remotely at the polar extremes – none or all working days – and about the same proportion would settle on two or three days per week. Fewer want to have one day at home or at work.

Figure 2 In 2022, how often would you like to have paid workdays at home?

So, post COVID, British employees want to retain WFH for about two days a week, but there is a huge variation in preferences. This is going to cause headaches for employers – do they let employees choose how many days to WFH but have meeting and events with mixed-mode, which is known to be hard. Worse still those WFH may end up suffering long-run in terms of promotions, which would be a major issue for diversity if certain demographics, like women with young kids, opt to WFH more and miss out on promotions. Or instead do firms force all employees to choose to WFH for 2 days a week, which is about the middle point in preferences, overriding individual preferences? Managers are going to face these tricky issues as we return to offices.

According to Barrero et al. (2020b) using US data, the stigma of WFH has diminished since the pandemic began. To shed light on the stigma associated with WFH for UK residents, we ask the following question in our survey: “Since the COVID pandemic began, how have perceptions about working from home changed among people you know?” Figure 3 shows that 40% of the respondents in the UK reported substantially improved perceptions about WFH and 17% respondents reported hugely improved perceptions. Only a small percentage of 16% showed no change in their perceptions on remote working. Thus, from these results, we find that a total of 76% of the respondents have reported an improvement in the perceptions associated with WFH in the UK, consequently proving that the stigma related to remote working has diminished. Perception may also pick up the perceived costs or benefits of WFH relative to preconceived ideas, and in this respect WFH turned out to be better than expected.

One year on: we look back at how the Forum’s networks have navigated the global response to COVID-19.

Using a multistakeholder approach, the Forum and its partners through its COVID Action Platform have provided countless solutions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, protecting lives and livelihoods.

Throughout 2020, along with launching its COVID Action Platform , the Forum and its Partners launched more than 40 initiatives in response to the pandemic.

The work continues. As one example, the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs is supporting 90,000 social entrepreneurs, with an impact on 1.4 billion people, working to serve the needs of excluded, marginalized and vulnerable groups in more than 190 countries.

Read more about the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, our support of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemics Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), and the COVAX initiative and innovative approaches to solve the pandemic, like our Common Trust Network – aiming to help roll out a “digital passport” in our Impact Story .

Figure 3 How have your perceptions about working from home changed?

The impact of WFH on employees’ productivity

Figure 4 shows that while there is a spread of opinions on this, on average employees consider they are about 2% more efficient when working from home. Certainly, there is no evidence that WFH is substantially less efficient, the big fear before the pandemic. As such this ability to work from home during the pandemic has been critical to keep the economy running while reducing infection rates.

This combination of employee desire to WFH shown in Figure 3 and the positive productivity impact in Figure 4 has led firms to consider hybrid models of working in which staff split their time between the office and home (Financial Times, 28 February). Staff surveys by major firms such as PwC, Lloyds, Barclays, BT, Aon, and Virgin Media suggest UK staff prefer a hybrid rather than a full return to the office. Three quarters of medium sized firms are cutting back on office space and letting their spare offices according to a survey of 405 executives (Financial Times, 4 March). Office construction has fallen from 4.32m sq ft to 3.61m sq ft year on year, and vacancies have risen. Hence, we conclude this surge in WFH is here to stay.

Figure 4 How has your productivity when working from home turned out?

This rise in WFH looks like it will generate a long-run benefit to employees in terms of a valuable perk. As shown in Figure 5 a large proportion of respondents felt positive about the prospect of WFH after the pandemic, with the average employee reporting that WFH for 2 days a week was a perk equivalent to about 6% of earnings. As such this shift to working may be one of the few upsides of the pandemic. However, this will also increase inequality, since higher earning employees are more likely to get to WFH post-pandemic.

Figure 5 After COVID, how would you feel about working from home two or three days a week?

Figure 6 shows the views of the respondents on social distancing after a vaccine is widely available. In our survey of UK employees only 19 per cent reported they would fully return to all pre-COVID activities, highlighting how long the impact of COVID will be on individuals attitudes, with over 80% reporting issues with crowded tube trains and lifts.

Figure 6 Views on social distancing if a COVID vaccine is approved

Even though in the UK some uncertainty remains over the timeline of the returning to workplaces, it seems certain that many workers will continue to work from home long after the end of the pandemic.

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Most people in UK did not work from home in 2020, says ONS

Uneven impact of Covid laid bare, with affluent London suburbs having highest proportion of home workers

The proportion of people working from home more than doubled in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, though it remained a minority of overall workers across the UK, according to an official snapshot.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said about a quarter of people (25.9%) had worked at home at some point in the week before they responded to officials conducting its annual population survey. It said that this compared with 12.4% of workers in 2019.

However, some staff were more likely to work from home than others in a reflection of the uneven impact and experiences of the health emergency across the UK – with much higher concentrations of workers doing their jobs from home in London than elsewhere.

According to the figures, 46.4% of people working in the capital said they worked at home at some point in 2020. The highest proportion of home workers were in affluent suburbs. More than 70% of all staff in the borough of Richmond upon Thames said they had already worked from home.

Home working was lowest in rural Scotland and the northern English towns of Burnley and Middlesbrough, where fewer than 14% of employees said they had ever worked from home.

The annual population survey included two questions: one asking respondents if they had worked from home in the week prior to being interviewed by ONS officials, and another asking if they had ever done any work from home. There was a smaller increase in the numbers who had ever worked from home at any point, rising from 26.7% in 2019 to 36.5% in 2020.

Despite confirming a rise during the pandemic, the figures suggest most of the British workforce continued to travel to workplaces during the health emergency, despite portrayals of abandoned city centres and empty offices in the media.

Reflecting the economic landscape of Britain and the ability to transfer some jobs to remote working more than others, cities with larger numbers of office-based jobs in sectors such as finance and IT had higher proportions of people working from home. Places with a higher local share of manufacturing jobs, as well as retail, leisure and hospitality work, had much lower figures.

According to the snapshot, more than half of managers, directors, senior officials and professional staff worked from home, compared with fewer than 10% of cleaners, factory workers and drivers.

Home workers were more likely to be at an established stage in their career, with people in their 40s twice as likely to be working from home than staff aged 20-24. The proportion of men and women working from home was broadly similar, while black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers were less likely to do their jobs from home than white and Chinese workers and those from other ethnic groups.

The figures have been released as lockdown measures are gradually relaxed and more people start to return to city-centre offices, reflected in rising urban footfall, road trips and use of public transport. There is growing speculation over the future of city centres and office-based jobs, as many companies look to retain some flexible working practices.

The accountancy firm BDO has told staff to decide for themselves when to come into the office as lockdown measures are eased, enabling staff to work in the most productive location for the task they are doing. KPMG has launched plans for its 16,000 UK staff to work a “ four-day fortnight ” in the office, with the rest at home or with clients. However, some firms are ordering staff to be ready to return to the office when restrictions are lifted, including the US banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan .

The ONS said the share of people doing their jobs remotely had fluctuated in line with government restrictions, with as many as 46.6% of employees reporting in April 2020 that they had worked from home at some point during the first lockdown. This fell to a low of 27% in August as restrictions were relaxed and the government urged people to return to work, before rising sharply back to 47% in early February this year as the pandemic worsened.

Chris Shine, a policy analyst at the ONS, said: “As the country emerges again from lockdown, it is too soon to say how permanent or widespread these changes will prove to be, with many commentators talking about ‘hybrid’ forms of working in which employees attend a central workplace, but less often than in the past.”

• Working from home
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18 Working From Home Statistics and Trends in the UK: 2024 Update

• Last updated: Mar 09 2024

Note: This article’s statistics come from third-party sources and do not represent the opinions of this website.

Working from home has become prevalent in the UK since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. People transitioned to sitting in their home offices as a precautionary measure against the virus. The situation was the same in almost every part of the world.

Recently, we saw an emerging trend among UK employees called “hybrid working,” which divides the work between the physical office and home. So, what is the current work-from-home situation in the UK after the pandemic? Are people returning to offices, or is the number of work-from-home employees increasing? Is the future bright for hybrid working?

Below, we discuss 18 working-from-home statistics and trends in the UK with sections for during, after, and futuristic pandemic-related situations.

Click below to jump ahead:

Working From Home During the Pandemic in the UK

Working from home after the pandemic, the future of working from home, productivity of work-from-home employees, mental health of work-from-home employees, the 18 working from home statistics.

• As of April 2020, around 50% of people in the UK were working from home.
• In a 2020 survey, 40% of respondents had positive perceptions about working from home.
• In a 2020 survey, 50 of the largest employers in the UK reported that they’re not planning to return to full-time in-house sitting anytime soon.
• A 2021 survey reported 21% of participants never wanted to work from home in 2022.
• People aged 16 to 24 favored working from the office full time in 2020.
• 85% of employees working from home in 2021 wanted a hybrid model to work in the future.
• From April to May 2022, 38% of employees making £40,000 or more and 32% earning between £30,000 and £40,000 were working hybrid.
• 78% of employees in the UK working from home reported an improved work-life balance.
• In 2020 and 2021, more than 3 million people claimed to work from home tax relief.
• 59% of employees in the UK prefer to work in a hybrid model in the future.
• Post-pandemic, workers in the UK are going to the office only 1.4 days per week on average.
• In 2022, 14% of employees will work from home, while 24% will work both from home and the office.
• In 2020, around 41% of employees working from home said their productivity remained the same before and after the pandemic.
• In 2020, about 65.5% of employees whose productivity increased with working from home wanted to work at home in the future.
• In 2020, 30% of employees in the UK worked more hours at home than from the office.
• In 2021, 81% of young workers feared isolation with the complete work-from-home model.
• Almost 30% of organizations in the UK introduced resources to support their employee’s mental and physical well-being when working from home.
• 60% of UK employees felt less connected to their colleagues due to working from home.

1. As of April 2020, around 50% of people in the UK were working from home.

(Office for National Statistics)

The work-from-home model became instantly popular in the UK workforce just as the pandemic started. Almost half of the total employees began working from home in 2020.

Of these employees, 86% said they did so because of the pandemic-induced health concerns. About 47.5% of women were likely to prefer to work from home, while 45.7% of employees working from home were men.

2. In a 2020 survey, 40% of respondents had positive perceptions about working from home.

(Center for Economic Policy Research CEPR)

Nearly half of the employees felt optimistic about working from home just as the government imposed the lockdown in 2020. However, 5% of the survey respondents had negative perceptions about the work-from-home model.

3. In a 2020 survey, 50 of the largest employers in the UK reported that they’re not planning to return to full-time in-house sitting anytime soon.

BBC News surveyed 50 renowned employers in the UK from diverse niches, including banks and retailers, to know when the employees will return to the office. Some 24 firms said they didn’t have such plans, while 20 opened their physical workplaces for employees who couldn’t work from home.

The primary reason behind this trend was the lack of resources to fulfill the social distancing protocol for a large employee pool.

4. A 2021 survey reported 21% of participants never want to work from home in 2022.

In 2021, a small number of survey participants refused to work from home the following year. Furthermore, 19% of respondents also reported that they want to work from home 5 days a week.

5. People aged 16 to 24 favored working from the office full time in 2020.

(Tech Talk)

There was an inconsistent trend among the employees when they were asked whether they wanted to work in the future or not. While the young employee pool was more willing to work from the office full time, people aged 55 were willing to work from home for the rest of their lives.

6. 85% of employees working from home in 2021 wanted a hybrid model to work in the future.

The governmental statistics collected in 2021 went in favor of the hybrid model. With a massive majority of 85%, home-working employees wanted to shift to the hybrid approach.

7. From April to May 2022, 38% of employees making £40,000 or more and 32% earning between £30,000 and £40,000 were working hybrid.

According to the latest work-from-home trends collected by the Office for National Statistics, high-income earners are more willing to work hybrid than low-income earners. The ratio for high-income earners (above £40,000) was 6% higher than for low-income earners (between £30,000 and £40,000).

8. 78% of employees in the UK working from home reported an improved work-life balance.

In 2022, working from home brought positive changes among employees in the UK. Almost two-thirds of the surveyed individuals reported improved personal and professional life balance. Additionally, 47% of workers experienced better health while working from home.

9. In 2020 and 2021, more than 3 million people claimed to work from home tax relief.

Because of the pandemic, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reported 3 million tax relief claims. However, more than 550,000 employees claimed tax relief and are already benefiting from it. These figures are from 2021 to 2022.

10. 59% of employees in the UK prefer to work in a hybrid model in the future.

The future of work-from-home is likely to be the hybrid model. With almost 60% of employees preferring the model over completing work from home, the UK will show more adaptability to hybrid modeling.

Comparatively, 47% of American employees are willing to work in a hybrid model in 2022 (SIEPR). That’s almost 12% less than the UK employees.

11. Post-pandemic, workers in the UK go to the office only 1.4 days per week on average.

The past couple of years have seen a significant fluctuation among UK employees towards working from home, especially on Fridays. Only 13% of workers go to the office on Fridays, while the rest prefer working from home.

On average, employees go to the office only 1.4 days a week post-pandemic. This figure was 3.8 days a week before the pandemic. The primary reason for this trend is that many bosses want to offer flexibility to workers for better employee retention and acquisition, considering the talent shortage.

12. In 2022, 14% of the employees work from home, while 24% work from home and the office.

The ratio of people preferring the hybrid model over working from home has considerably increased in 2022. Almost 25% of employees are working from home and the office this year, which is expected to increase even more.

13. In 2020, around 41% of employees working from home said their productivity remained the same before and after the pandemic.

(Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data WISERD)

While the work-from-home model was widely embraced among employees, nearly half experienced no difference in productivity in 2020. However, 28.9% of employees reported doing more work when working from home, while 30.2% said their productivity had decreased.

14. In 2020, about 65.5% of employees whose productivity increased with working from home wanted to work at home in the future.

Working from home is not the best choice for everyone, but many employees experience exceptional results. In 2020, these employees wanted to keep working from home in the future too. Around 65.5% of employees said they did more work per hour than they used to do in the office.

15. In 2020, 30% of employees in the UK worked more hours at home than from the office.

(Microsoft Surface)

Many employees experienced a significant boost in their productivity during the 2020 lockdown. For example, almost 30% reported a rise in the number of hours they worked at home. This means they concentrated better on their work from home.

16. In 2021, 81% of young workers feared isolation with the complete work-from-home model.

A 2021 survey found loneliness the biggest fear among younger employees when working from home. About 81% of these employees said that completing office time will make them more isolated. This figure was 64% among employees aged 35 or above.

17. Almost 30% of organizations in the UK introduced resources to support their employee’s mental and physical well-being when working from home.

To make the work-from-home model widely accepted, around 30% of companies in the UK developed programs to support their employee’s mental and physical well-being. As a result, more than half (56%) of employees reported high happiness levels when working from home.

18. 60% of UK employees felt less connected to their colleagues due to working from home.

Despite the efforts of UK businesses, the work-from-home model was still not positively perceived among a large employee group. The reason was mainly a lack of communication. Almost 48% of employees said they must communicate more to show their value.

Frequently Asked Questions About Working From Home in the UK

Is working from home here to stay in the uk.

Hybrid work is undoubtedly here to stay in the UK. As employees expect more flexibility from employers, businesses must provide it to retain their workforce and acquire fresh talent (HR News).

Has Working From Home Increased Productivity in the UK?

Working from home has not only increased employees’ productivity in the UK but also ensured their well-being. More employees have reported better mental health and a balanced personal and professional life. Several studies have also found that employees working from home reported less stress, better work quality, and higher efficiency.

Is the UK’s Staff Happier Working From Home?

The UK’s staff seems happier working from home. With sufficient resources provided by the employers, almost 56% of the work-from-home employees in the country reported high levels of happiness and satisfaction.

Generally, the level of happiness fluctuates among different types of employment, with full-time office workers being the least satisfied and fully remote workers the most satisfied (Microsoft Surface).

Is the Hybrid Model More Popular Than Working From Home?

Over the past couple of years, the percentage of workers preferring the hybrid work model has increased from 13% in 2022. But, comparatively, work-from-home employees have fallen from 22% to 14% from February 2022 to May 2022 (Office for National Statistics).

Are People Working From Home on Fridays in the UK?

Friday has become an unofficial remote working day in the UK , with only 13% of people going to the physical office (BBC News).

Summing up the above working-from-home statistics and trends in the UK, the work-from-home model is going to stay in the country. More and more people are now expecting work-hour flexibility from their employers.

Considering the upcoming talent shortage, businesses need to offer resources to their employees that support the work-from-home or hybrid working model. That is the only way to retain the existing employee pool and acquire new ones!

• Coronavirus and homeworking in the UK – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
• Working from home is revolutionising the UK labour market | CEPR
• No plan for a return to the office for millions of staff – BBC News
• What Works When Working from Home? | Tech Talk (currys.co.uk)
• Business and individual attitudes towards the future of homeworking, UK – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
• Is hybrid working here to stay? – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
• Working from home? Customers may be eligible to claim tax relief in 2021 to 2022 – GOV.UK 
• Returning to the office will be hard | CEPR
• Hybrid is the future of work | Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
• Why more people are working from home on Fridays – BBC News
• Felstead_Reuschke_2020_Homeworking-in-the-UK_Report_Final.pdf (wiserd.ac.uk)
• Work Smarter to Live Better Infographic (microsoft.com)
• Survey reveals 81% of younger workers fear loneliness from long-term home working – HR News
• Hybrid work is here to stay according to UK workers; and businesses must be flexible to retain talent – HR News

Featured Image Credit: Marek Levak, Pexels

Jeff Weishaupt

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• Entering and staying in the UK
• Immigration rules

New laws to cut migration and put British workers first in force

Changes that are now in force will slash migration and prevent the undercutting of British workers by employers looking to recruit cheap labour from overseas.

Photo: Getty Images

UK businesses are now required to pay overseas workers coming to the UK on a Skilled Worker visa significantly more, as the government clamps down on cut price foreign labour and continues to deliver on its commitment to drive down net migration.  

Part of a robust and fair package of measures announced by the Home Secretary in December, which will mean 300,000 people who arrived in the UK last year would now not be able to, the general salary threshold for those arriving in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa has now increased by 48%, from £26,200 to £38,700. 

This increase will help ensure the UK’s immigration system focuses on recruiting high-skilled workers, helping to grow the UK economy while bringing overall numbers down.  

The government is clear that no sector should be permanently reliant on immigration, so today, the shortage occupation list has also been abolished, with employers no longer able to pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations.  

A new immigration salary list ( ISL ) has been created, following advice from the expert and independent Migration Advisory Committee ( MAC ). Roles on the list will only be included where they are skilled and in shortage, and if it is sensible to include them considering the efforts being made by sectors to invest in the resident workforce.  

Inclusion on the list must not serve to reduce pay and undermine the recruitment of British workers. Employers are encouraged to invest in training, upskilling, and hiring domestic workers first. 

It comes as the government takes decisive action to support British people into work, in one of the biggest employment interventions in a generation, through its £2.5 billion Back to Work plan. This will help break down barriers to work for over a million people who are long term unemployed, long term sick, or disabled.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: 

It’s time to turn off the taps and end the flow of cheap workers from abroad. Mass migration is unsustainable and it’s simply not fair. It undercuts the wages of hard-working people who are just trying to make ends meet.  We are refocusing our immigration system to prioritise the brightest and best who have the skills our economy needs, while reducing overall numbers. I promised the British people an immigration system that serves their interests, and to bring numbers down - these tough measures deliver on that commitment. Employers must also play their part and put British workers first.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: 

For too long we have relied on labour from abroad when there is great talent right here in the UK. I’m determined to give jobseekers the support they need to get on and get ahead through our £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan, while our network of Jobcentres are providing apprenticeships, bootcamps, and skills programmes to help even more people into work. The changes coming into force today coupled with my next generation of welfare reforms will unlock the huge potential of the great British workforce.

The government has put in place an accelerated and comprehensive programme of reforms to address unsustainable numbers of legal arrivals in the UK.  

In January, the government ended the ability of nearly all postgraduate students to bring dependants to the UK. A drastic fall in student dependant applications is expected this year, with early indications already of this downward trend.

Last month, reforms to restrict care workers from bringing family members came into force. An estimated 120,000 dependants accompanied 100,000 workers on the route in the year ending September 2023, who would now not be able to come. 

Care providers are also now required to register with the Care Quality Commission, the industry regulator, if they are sponsoring migrant care workers. This follows clear evidence that care workers have been offered visas under false pretences, having been recruited for jobs that don’t exist or being paid far below the minimum wage required for their work. 

The Home Secretary has also commissioned a review of the Graduate route for international students to prevent abuse, protect the integrity and quality of UK higher education, and ensure it works in the best interests of the UK. 

The Migration Advisory Committee ( MAC ) will review the demand for the Graduate route, through which a total of 213,250 visas have been granted since it was established, to ensure it is fit for purpose and focused on attracting the best and brightest to the UK. 

This follows concerns raised after analysis by the MAC revealed that the number of international postgraduate students attending institutions with the lowest UCAS entry requirements has increased by over 250% between 2018 and 2022. It is expected to report later this year. 

On 11 April, the first step in an incremental increase to the minimum income required for Family visas will come into force. By early 2025, this will have reached £38,700, helping to ensure dependants brought to the UK are supported financially. 

The government’s plan to tackle illegal migration is also working, with small boat crossings down by around a third last year. Illegal migration is an international challenge the government is tackling on all fronts, including working with international partners and clamping down on the criminal gangs with stepped-up enforcement.

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